My Favorite Quilt

What is my favorite quilt? Even before I read about a linky party on the same subject here, I knew the answer:  A Portrait of Emily, shown below.  This quilt began with a photo of my daughter, Emily, taken at 6 a.m. on a high school choir tour.  She was not thrilled to have her picture taken, but I loved that picture, and just knew I had to create something with it. 

So, the idea "perkolated" around in my brain for a while...years...until one day I saw a tv show featuring Therese May, and her "Therese Quilt".  Wow, what a stunner! I knew instantly what I had to do with Emily's photo.
This was made entirely from fabric in my stash, mostly batiks, fused, appliqued, pieced, and machine quilted.
I love the quilt, and even more, I love the daughter.  She lives far away, but I get to see her face every day in this quilt.  

Kristin & Adam's wedding - party on! and Happy Anniversary to us!

More wedding pictures from Kristin & Adam's wedding!  Their ceremony (see previous post) was in the historic Tivoli Theater, and they took their outdoor shots out back, next to this brick wall.  I love the urban chic look of it.

The lovely bride, Kristin, and her maids:  her sister, Leah, maid of honor, on the left, and my daughter, Emily, on the right.
I love how Kristin let the girls chose whatever dress they preferred, but both in navy blue to coordinate.

The reception was at a lovely golf course near here.  Their party room was beautiful and spacious, with golf course views on 3 sides.  And the tablescape was also lovely!  (always looking for wedding ideas - I have 3 daughters...)

Do you know what it means to "get Iced"?  If someone gives you an open bottle of Smirnoff Ice, which my daughter describes as alcoholic Fresca, you have to drop to one knee and chug it.  Sounds mostly like fun for the younger generation, right?  As a matter of face, the fun-loving bride and groom were iced at the reception, and they both obliged!
Then, later in the evening, an open bottle appeared at our table, and my husband, Scott, was up to the task! Who Iced him? The bride!

My lovely daughter, Emily, and her equally lovely boyfriend, Matt. It was so great having them close by this summer, as they both had internships in Chicago.  Now they are both back in Boston for their second and final year in graduate school. The plan is to return to Chicago after they graduate in May! 

We had such a great evening! And yesterday was OUR wedding anniversary - 35 years!!! How can this be?  They say that the days go slow, but the years go fast, and boy is that ever true.
Happy Anniversary, Scott!

Third Wedding of the Summer - and it was a GREAT one!

This past Sunday was a very special day.  Our daughter, Emily's, best friend, Kristin, got married!  Emily was a bridesmaid, and Scott and I were invited - it was a day filled with joy!
Kristin is a remarkable young woman.  She is very smart, and cares deeply about her friends, and she is also very practical.  So while some of the wedding details were quite traditional, other details were uniquely...Kristin!  For starters, the ceremony was at our town's historic Tivoli theater - complete with their names on the marquee!  How cool is that???

Emily created a photo collage poster, and got the theater management to display it in their "Now Showing" glass display case.  So special!

Kristin had to convince the theater to let them have their wedding at the theater.  It was only the 3rd wedding to take place there!  The Tivoli has been totally restored, and it is BEAUTIFUL.  The organ played in the orchestra pit, and it was perfect.  The readings, the vows, even the celebrant - who was one of their close friends, Ryan.  And the seats were filled with their families, and LOTS of friends.  K & A are part of a LARGE group of fun and loving friends - partially due to Kristin! She is the glue that holds the group together.

Ryan did a stellar job - on his first wedding as celebrant!  Ryan was serious, and tender, and funny...the whole ceremony was full of love and special meaning.  They wrote their own vows.  And they both cried.

This was so fun!  After the ceremony, we all spilled out onto the brick street (did I tell you, our town is adorable?), and waited...until K & A came out, and we all threw POPCORN! How perfect is that?
Stay tuned for more wedding pics!

It was 23 years ago today...

...that my darling daughter, Hannah was born!  

She's been celebrating her birthday for over a week! My other daughter, Emily, made a fantastic cake to celebrate the birthdays of Hannah (left) and Genevieve (right).  We also had Italian food, and even belinis!

Hannah has always been cute, sunny, bright, funny...can you tell I think she's awesome?

And why be boring and dull, when you can be exciting and fun?

Hannah spreads joy wherever she goes!  She and her boyfriend, Danny, had a stay-cation this summer, finding fun things to do and places to see all OVER Chicago!

Why just smile when mugging is so much for fun?

My wish? A long, healthy and happy life for my sweet girl.

Happy Birthday Hannah! Thank you for being you! Love you lots!